If you are a global business you rely heavily on B2B payment processing.
B2B Credit Card Payments
Receiving a B2B payment through a credit card might seem like a good option. Within the United States B2B credit card payments take a prominent spot in the market. Unfortunately for businesses MasterCard and Visa fees have gone up three times in less than 10 years.
“But for B2B sellers, the cost of accepting credit cards far outweighs the benefits. Visa, MasterCard and other credit card companies have tripled their U.S. swipe fees in the past decade, and they are now the highest in the world. As a result, the spiralling cost of allowing credit card payments can easily cut into bottom-line profitability. Any company that is not actively reviewing how and when it accepts credit cards is willingly squandering away margin."
ACH payment processing
In the United States Automated Clearing House, or in short ACH, is used for a lot of B2B transactions. ACH is a network for financial transactions. In 2013 a total of 38,7 trillion USD was processed.
PayPal B2B payments
PayPal is a great system, but like credit cards the accompanying fees are high. Which excludes it as a realistic option for most national and international B2B payments.
SEPA payment processing
Within Europe SEPA is the biggest network for payments. 35 European countries take part in this.
SEPA outside of Europe?
With B2B Pay an exporter to Europe can take advantage of the SEPA network. B2B Pay creates a European IBAN number for each exporter. When a transaction comes in through a free SEPA payment the money is sent to the local bank of the exporter for the best fee in the market, up to 80% cheaper than through a common wire transfer with any of the 200,000 banks in Europe. B2B Pay is working together with Barclays, Nordea bank and Techstars.
B2B Travel Payment Solution
When it comes to the travel industry, thanks to the frankly enormous number of transactions performed, it is perhaps fair to say that a B2B Travel Payment Solution is most necessary for them. The advantages of adopting such a solution are multi-fold: we connect to your travel agency accounting software and any other systems via API which means there are no more reconciliation issues. The new data stream will shows you how much more efficient your operation became thanks to our virtual bank account integrated solution.
B2B Payment Processing: history
A significant number of successful and well-established businesses in different parts of the world are unaware of the financial benefits of accepting electronic payment options. From a technological point of view, electronic payments or e-payment solutions have advanced and matured in recent years, bringing down many barriers and, therefore, making adoption easy. Currently, many well-informed suppliers are accepting or are willing to accept payment electronically.
B2B payment processing has introduced and extended improvements in traditional payment services to the international stage. Efficient and fast cross-border networks are improving wire transfer services while cards are becoming popular for smaller payments. Cross-border B2B payments processing solutions are integrated with FX risk management, trade finance and multi-currency accounting software for smart management of currency exposures and cash flow. This expansion is expected to continue in the coming years, making B2B payments a large consideration in doing business, especially across borders. The benefits for customers and businesses are clear; efficient, fast and secure payments at low costs.
Electronic B2B payment processing solutions are steadily replacing corresponding banking networks. The correspondent banking networks are shrinking as traditional banks leave the less profitable and riskier markets, creating a chance for B2B payment providers to step into the gaps left. For many businesses, the challenge is, many still don’t understand the layers that payments must pass through to reach the required destination. The more complex the route, the greater the chances of communication breakdown or loss due to fraud. B2B payment processing on top of improving efficiency and speed reduces the risk of payments being accidentally diverted or disappearing. For context, it is vital to know that electronic payment solutions like commercial cards, Automated Clearing House (ACH) and wire transfers have been in existence for many years, even the newest network-based payment solutions have carried out transactions for over ten years.
The Fastest-Growing B2B Payment Solutions
ACH is estimated to be the fastest growing payment solution with over 39 percent of enterprises planning to increase the amount of transactions carried out using this technology. Another 34 percent is expected to develop a plan in 2017. ACH is the most widely used e-payment method by businesses across the globe. Every business that has direct deposit on worker paychecks already uses ACH; this reason sets ACH as the most attractive for expansion for cross-border payments. The main advantages of ACH and similar payment solutions such as SEPA and CNAPS, used in Europe and china respectively are low transaction costs and speed.
Other platforms in the B2B payments market
Other platforms that are expected to grow include Commercial Cards i.e. purchasing cards, single use virtual cards, credit card and corporate travel cards. Commercial cards offer the most value for one-off purchases of indirect products. Network-Based Payment Solutions such as payment or business networks are also expected to grow due to the proliferation of social tools and the stringent measures of supply chains. Another benefit of network based e-solutions is the network effect that will lead to more complex international networks. Finally, Wire Transfers are expected to grow because, unlike ACH, they do not require businesses to store financial data making them attractive from a security standpoint.
Mobile payments are growing rapidly, but not for B2B payments
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